Trust in other people’s kindness is more important to our happiness than previously thought. Yet people all over the world don’t realise how kind people in their communities are. So says the World Happiness Report 2025. As a result, the charity Action for Happiness has launched a global campaign to encourage one million extra acts of caring and sharing. Roger Higman reports.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
People are nicer than we think. For example, they are twice as likely to return a lost wallet or purse than we expect. And trust in others is vital for our wellbeing says this year’s World Happiness Report. People who believe that others are kind are more likely to be happy – while countries such as Finland, Denmark and Sweden, where trust in others is high, continue to top the global happiness rankings.
Living together also seems to be good for us. Household size is closely linked to happiness – four to five people living together enjoy the highest levels of happiness in Europe, even though an increasing number are living on their own.
Sharing meals is strongly linked with wellbeing everywhere – and is a factor in the high wellbeing reported by many South American countries.
Yet, worryingly, almost a fifth of young adults worldwide say that have no one they could count on for social support.
Country rankings in the World Happiness Report are based on the answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. This year, Finland topped the global ranking of 147 countries – for the eighth year in a row – while Afghanistan was on the bottom. The UK came in at 23rd, with its lowest score since 2017, while the United States fell to 24th.
Lara Aknin, a professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and an editor of the report, emphasises the importance of relationships for our wellbeing: “Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others. Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness”.
And Jeffrey Sachs, a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, says that “the findings in this year’s World Happiness Report reconfirm a fundamental truth: happiness is rooted in trust, kindness, and social connection. It is up to us as virtuous individuals and citizens to translate this vital truth into positive action, thereby fostering peace, civility, and wellbeing in communities worldwide.”
The charity, Action for Happiness, is celebrating International Day of Happiness (20th March) with a global campaign to encourage one million extra acts of caring and sharing. They are asking people to think of an idea, quote, image, podcast, article, book or even a place that they found helpful or inspiring and to share it through social media, a text, a phone call or even a visit with a friend, family member, colleague, neighbour or someone they’ve not seen for a while. You can find out more here.
You can learn more about what the Network of Wellbeing has done and is doing to encourage caring and sharing here and here.